TUFO Tubulars: Road Elite

[Too Tall]

TUFO Road Elite Tubs w/ sealant

Call it an in service ride report?

Last week I got in 6 days of heavy riding in the Va Mtns. During the week we had 3 road races, 1 TT, cornering clinic, grass field bumping drills and countless training rides with 50/60mph descents.

The tires did it all and I am impressed enough to call them an all rounder tubular. For toughness I'd rate them with the best tubs I've ever had. Very little cutting, nicks etc. Ride comfort is about an 9 out of 10 compared to A Conti Competition. I weight 200 and had them pumped to 125/130 all week. If I take them down to 110/115 they feel plush. Cornering was a big worry as I was leery of their tough rubber not having the grip of a really fine tub. I definately was tenuous on the first few practice crit corners but at some point said *** and laid into it. The scuffed sidewalls tell the tale. They grip just fine.

I've glued up 5 of these so far and found the tires are straight as an arrow. They are the ONLY tubs I've ever had that do not turn insideout when pumped prior to mounting...atsa' strong tire! Also, the base tape is a glue hog so don't be shy with priming the base tape....prime until the color is uniform.

There is nothing to not like about an almost pop-proof tubular with such reasonable qualities.

[lithiapark]

That sounds like a great week! Was that a team training camp?

Now have about 1200 miles on some Tufo Elites, blue ones. I claim limited experience-some older Continental Sprinter and Competition that came on wheels I have purchased, and another set of Tufos before the Elites. The construction of the Tufo's is more precise than the Continentals in terms of being rounder and the base tape being more concentric. Can't compare the durability, because I got the Continentals used and I don't know how much, but the Elites are wearing very well so far.

I used Tufo's tape to mount these tires, it was extremly simple-put the tape on the rim, with the mylar covering tape still on the outside with 1" of each end of it peeled off and sticking sideways, put the tire on (inflated to 5psi), position, then peel the mylar tape out from beneath the tires slowly. This took one tenth of the time that I spent with brush and glue with the other set of Tufo's I used.

The grip of the tires, and of the tape, was put to a test unintentionally about 3 weeks ago. I found a new little hill to climb in the neighborhood, and when coming back down a blind right hand 30mph corner I encountered a significant bump that I hadn't noticed coming up. I was heeled over pretty well but chose to go over the bump and not into the other lane I couldn't see into around the corner. Both wheels were off the tarmac long enough for me to think "oh darn", but I came back down with a "thunk", still heeled over, and without a slip, wiggle, or twitch. I was pleased with how well the tires and Serotta took the abrupt side loading without a fuss. Unfortunately, it suggests strongly to me that my limit of comfort cornering is well below the capacity of the bike and tires. On the other hand, that is probably safer than the other way. :D

I agree with the comments on ride and wear, again from my limited experience. I weigh 165 in shoes and clothes and run 85-90f/95-100r pressures. I liked the other Tufos too, but cut the sidewall out of one on glass after 300 miles, and the other one is now a spare, S3 Lites.

[zap]

lithiapark,

What type of Tufo tape do you use? Regular or extreme.

I agree that Tufo's quality surpasses Conti's.

Glad to see you didn't pull a Beloki.

[MartyE]

Too Tall,

Thanks for the report, I've been thinking of picking up a set of Road
Elites and this clinches (no pun intended) it for me.
One Tufo Tifosi suggested that this is the closest you will come to
a Clement Seta Silk of any current production tire (handmade Dugast excepted).

Marty

[lithiapark]

Zap,
The Elites were mounted with the extreme version. I used the regular on the earlier set of Tufos, it is thicker, tends to squeeze out along side the tire after a while, and holds much stronger than the extreme-I could hardly get the tires off. The extreme version appears plenty strong and is supposed to be good over a wider temperature range. The regular version was an early one I think, and didn't have the mylar tape which meant you had to slide the tire over the exposed tape-I was able to do it first try without problem, it just wasn't as easy. I can't, however, be sure that they have updated the regular version though.

[MartyE]

I have the regular tape and it too has the mylar so you don't have
to mount the tire over the exposed tape.
Didn't notice any problem with it squeezing out, but I used it with
Conti Sprinters.

Marty

[theprep]

On the Road Elite's - is the inner tube butyl or latex?

I'm thinking of buying 2 Road Elite's to replace my Sprinters. One of the nice things about Conti tubulars is the butyl inner tube and the fact that they hold air for a long time.

[MartyE]

Tufo doesn't specify what the tube is made of other than
airtight layer ( http://www.tufonorthamerica.com/tiretypes.php ).
Given the sealant and the fact that they don't lose air I'd wager to
say its Butyl.

Marty

[Too Tall]

They don't have a tube and my road elite's hold air foralongtime. I topped off after 4 days and probably did not have to.